Inshore Fishing Report
Sheepshead is a great species to target on days when winds are blowing and we have stirred up water conditions. These guys love the turbulent weather around the fronts unlike most inshore species. They are biting really well around the area right now due to cooler weather and gearing up for their spawn they feed heavily, concentrate more, and get more aggressive too. They love small pieces of shrimp, or fiddler crabs, sandfleas, mangrove crabs and even barnacles. They are typically a bit leader shy and you have to use lighter tackle with minimal weight to target them effectively. Fishing for them in areas of structure is best like docks, piers, bridges or jetties. Often you can hit them when the tides are moving slower when the trout or redfish bite slacks.
Trout fishing is going really well around the area lately with some nice fish being caught. We are seeing a pretty good average sized fish as of late too. They are loving the soft plastics for the most part, but white baits still working and shrimp this time of year becomes more and more a go to option as bait gets harder and harder to find and net. Fish for them around the flats and islands in the shallower waters less than 4ft looking for areas they can concentrate and feed with less effort. They are going to stack in ambush areas where they can find the bait coming to them.
Redfish action is going well around the area too, but mostly on the average and smaller sized redfish. This time of year, those ‘rat’ reds or schoolie sized fish, tend to really get active around local dock lines. Especially those dock lines that are adjacent to the flats, mangroves, or oyster bars. Look for these areas in combination and methodically work the docks with slow moving soft plastics or shrimp on minimal weight. You will find active redfish action with some sheepshead sprinkled throughout.
Snook are biting, but you have to go find them in the back country. They are not really around the pass much if at all with the cooler water. They are tucked in the back bay and upper bay areas. Specifically around the creeks, rivers and bayous and furthest back they can get. These areas generally are going to have more of that black bay mud that holds and radiates heat well. Plus, shallower waters that are going to have more spring fed action keeping them more well regulated temperature wise too! You can find some nice snook if you know where to look and you can fool them into biting. Deeper areas and pockets in the back country is a good starting place to look.
Flounder action remains steady around the area. While we aren’t seeing huge numbers caught this is the time of year we may see some nice ones. Typically, the big ones are going to be more near shore this time of year spawning, you may pick a few nice ones up in the outer bay areas, or along deeper areas of structure in the bay that have nice sandy patches around them. Often the guys and gals fishing the rock piles for sheepshead in the bay will pick up some huge flounder with shrimp if they get too far to one side of the rock pile and venture into the sand. We see this often near shore this time of year when drift fishing or swinging over a ledge. If you get into the sand with some shrimp or small pinfish you are going to have a great shot at finding some big boy or big girl flounder.
Nearshore Fishing Report
Red grouper are re opening for harvest starting Monday January 1st! WE are pumped to get back after them and really get into it. We do see some of these guys on our tne hour all day trips, but even more so offshore. Typically, we will start a bit deeper on the ten hour and try for some red grouper and then if that doesn’t pan out we can push inshore a bit and hit some hogfish areas. The red grouper start to bite best in our deepest nearshore waters and into the offshore areas. For red grouper, live pinfish are a great option or big chunks of dead bait. I love a bonita strip, squid strip, big threadfin or even double threadfins.
Hogfish action is really dominating the near shore report and focus. WE are doing well on these guys on a variety of near shore adventures but definitely the ten hour all day trip is the best one to get them dialed in on for sure. We see the hogfish biting best on the live shrimp and banana jigs, or the knocker rigs. We have tons of videos on hogfish tips and tricks on our fishing tips and tricks page if you haven’t checked those out, your missing out!
Lane snapper have been super prolific near shore as well with the hogfish. We are seeing these guys as shallow as 40ft of water pretty steadily, but as we go deeper they get bigger and more consistent. It’s a great time to get out there with some shrimp and crush plenty of lane snapper.
Mangrove snapper action while its not quite as prolific as lane snapper near shore we are seeing some nice ones and some consistency too. They are typically after the shrimp near shore or super smaller chunks of the threadfin on smaller double snell hooks. Typically we are using around 3-4ot hooks without much spacing when double snell rigging for near shore action.
**Don’t forget, that we have some great videos on our fishing tips and tricks page here to show you how to target and rig for the hogfish -> https://www.hubbardsmarina.com/fishing-tips/
Offshore FIshing Report
Our first 2024 adventure is right around the corner as we have ADDED a special 12 hour extreme trip in for Monday January 1st. The red grouper are waiting for us for sure and the weather looks GREAT. We are going to get plenty of those red grouper, fat mangroves, big vermillion, porgies, almaco jacks, and so many more. We continue to see nice yellowtail in surprising numbers offshore with a few mutton snapper sprinkled in. The pelagic action hasn’t been super hot lately, but this time of year we see those blackfin tuna pretty heavy offshore. You do not want to forget a flat line for the tuna this time of year if weather allows you the opportunity to put one out!
Our recent 12 hour extreme trip crushed the mangroves and had some triggerfish, vermillion, porgies and more. However, they had to throw back a lot of super fat good looking red grouper with our venting tools and descending devices. Now, we are going to get back out there and keep those red grouper and put our engel coolers capacity to the test!
